Speaking in an interview with The Guardian, actress and filmmaker Jodie Foster said that members of Generation Z, or young adults born between 1997 and 2012, are terribly difficult to work with because of their lackluster work ethic and aggravating approach to professionalism in the workplace.
Though the interview with The Guardian was mostly about how the lesbian actress raised her two sons, Foster at one point spoke about her attempts to work with young people and how she mentors young actresses, then turned to the negatives of the younger generation.
Speaking about the oddities of Generation Z young adults and their irksome workplace habits, Foster jumped right in and said, “They’re really annoying, especially in the workplace.” Then, explaining why, she noted that it is their quirks that make working with them so difficult.
Giving an example, she noted that their opinion of how showing up to the workplace should work is very different from the strict professionalism of older generations, explaining how they’ll show up to the office hours late on the slightest whim. She told The Guardian, “They’re like, ‘Nah, I’m not feeling it today, I’m gonna come in at 10.30am.’”
Continuing, she gave another example of their lack of professionalism, this time describing how younger people seem to not understand the importance of checking for grammar and spelling. She said, “Or, like, in emails, I’ll tell them this is all grammatically incorrect, did you not check your spelling? And they’re like, ‘Why would I do that, isn’t that kind of limiting?’”
Foster wasn’t all negative, however. She also spoke about her attempts to mentor the members of the younger generation and understands the difficulties of growing up, saying, “I do a lot of reaching out to young actresses. I’m compelled. Because it was hard growing up.”
Forbes reported much the same thing as Jodie Foster discovered in her personal experiences, noting that an April of 2023 survey conducted by ResumeBuilder.com found that nearly three-quarters of managers and other business leaders had issues working with members of Gen Z because of that generation’s problematic approach to business life.
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Particularly, the survey respondents, Forbes reports, feel entitled to things like high pay and good benefits, but also demonstrate a problematic lack of effort, motivation, and productivity, issues that are sometimes severe enough to lead to their being fired.
Forbes also noted, however, that the Covid pandemic and lockdowns led to many younger people entering the workforce missing out on critical years of skills building, with personal skills and other workplace-related skills something they missed out on building thanks to the lockdowns keeping them out of school and limiting work opportunities. Further, the mental health crisis aggravated by the lockdowns has led to workplace issues.
Forbes recommends that those younger Americans working on fitting and and being successful in the workplace work on “improving their communication skills and cultivating soft skills, such as empathy, active listening and dealing with difficult situations.”
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